Gamjams Reviews: Helmets - Giro Atmos & Specialized S-Works

I used a Giro Pneumo helmet for a while. A long while, actually. I changed to the Giro Monza after the Pneumo just seemed a bit too old and brittle and the retention strap ripped out of the styrofoam on the crown. I purchased the Pneumo originally after hearing one of my better riding pals called it the "quintessential helmet." When I tried it on, I couldn't disagree.

When I'm thinking about equipment I like, I often realize that the less I think about a peice of equipment, the better it is. If I'm not thinking about it, that means it's not bothering me one bit. For equipment that sits on your head for hours, a helmet better not be bothersome.

Nowadays, I think the quintessential helmet is the Giro Atmos. For the past year, I was using that particular brain bucket in navy blue to match my GW cycling stuff. All of the Giro helmets have a similar shape and fit, so the medium agrees with my particularly weird shaped cranium very well with enough space for a cap or thin beanie if it's cold. Like it's predecessor, the Pneumo, it's incredible light weight and well ventilated.

Since the Giro Ionos came out, the Atmos has been hitting some incredible price points at just over a benjamin. If that's still too much cash to dispurse on an item that is designed to be destroyed, the Pneumo still exists, but the Monza is probably the helmet with the most bang-for-buck.

Now that I joined NCVC, I wanted to buy a new helmet to match the white, red, and black kit. (Typical cyclist looking for a reason to buy new swag.) At the same time, just coincidentally, a strap of the plastic retention system on my year-old atmos cracked. I needed a new brain bucket.

Through our sponsor Spokes, Etc., I ordered a Specialized S-Works helmet in the Silence-Lotto colors; this helmet would match the NCVC kit excellently.

Soon after, I called up Giro (owned by Easton-Bell Sports) and asked for them to send me a new retention system and pads. The retention system and pads were sent to my office within three days, and I didn't pay a dime. I'd heard that Easton-Bell/Giro had incredible customer service, but this was just too good of a surprise. I wasn't outsourced to India and I actually talked to a human being. Awesome.

Two weeks later, Specialized shipped my new S-Works helmet to Spokes. Except they didn't ship my helmet, they shipped last year's grey and salmon-pink colored Predictor-Lotto S-Works helmet. I wouldn't have minded so much except for the fact that the rigid retention system was bent inward near the right temple. It was a carbon fiber and styrofoam headache machine.

Having ordered a $250 helmet (although I didn't pay nearly that much), I would have expected better quality control all around. None of that has to do with the helmet though, just my disappointment with one of the evil empires of America's corporate cycling community. But I digress...

I eventually received my helmet in the correct colors. I've ridden with it for the past two weeks and am still aclimating to it. The effort that Specialized put into this helmet works against them in some ways.

First of all, to get a snug fit, the retention system goes fully around the head instead of starting at the temples and ratcheting at the back. The pads that velcro onto the hard plastic strap slip a ton, so it's abrasive if you're not wearing a cap under the helmet (which don't fit as well for me as they do under Giro helmets).

As a contrast, Specialized has a cheaper helmet called the Propero, for $110, that has much softer rubber on the retention system. It baffles me why they didnt' use this rubber on the S-Works helmet too.

The other oddity about the S-Works is that the straps aren't webbing - they're thick ribbons. This makes them slip substantially more while riding, and they are rougher on the backs of your ears if they're rubbing.

Still, this helmet fits very comfortably overall, and it looks good. Specialized advertises it as the lightest helmet on the market, and it sure as hell is light (perhaps because they use ribbon instead of webbing). No show-stoppers yet, because the helmet hasn't pissed me off while riding. I think I've noticed these things because of the change in brands.

Helmets are an annoying peice of equipment to have to buy. They are the one piece of equipment we always wear, but hope to never use.

I've tried five different helmets over the past few years. A few of them have unfortunately done their job, fortunately saving my noggin. So, in respect to those two, I want to give a shout-out to the low-level Bell Alchera and the value-oriented, race-caliber Giro Monza. Both performed their duties well without bothering me one bit.